The Beginning

The idea of establishing a Trappist monastery in the Diocese of Larantuka originated from the desire of the late Bishop of Larantuka, Mgr. Darius Nggawa, SVD. In 1983, he formally invited the Abbot of Rawaseneng, the late Dom Frans Harjawiyata, to open a foundation of Rawaseneng in the small village of Lamanabi. Lamanabi, in the Lamaholot language, literally means "a group of tribes" (lama) living on a "hill" (nabi/nubi). For the native people, the hill was a place for sacrificial rituals to worship the Supreme Being (God), thus Lamanabi symbolically means "Hill of Sacrifice." Since Rawaseneng was busy preparing for the establishment of a Trappistine monastery for nuns in Gedono, Salatiga, Central Java, Rawaseneng could only actively respond to the request of the Bishop of Larantuka after seven survey visits by Abbot Fr. Frans and several other members of Rawaseneng Monastery to Lamanabi. These visits took place between 1988 and 1995.

Feeling unprepared to establish a foundation directly in Lamanabi, Abbot Fr. Frans decided to start by opening an annex monastery (a temporary residence) first, sending four monks to Larantuka. On December 12, 1995, they departed and settled in a rented house in the Sarotari neighborhood of Larantuka. The four brothers were: Br. David Bue, Br. Dominikus Dadu Hayong, Fr. Mikael Santana, and Br. Petrus Migu Hayong. On October 15, 1996, the General Chapter of the OCSO (Cistercians Order of the Strict Observance) officially recognized Lamanabi as a foundation of Rawaseneng.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of the monastery construction in Lamanabi, led by Mgr. Darius Nggawa, SVD, was held on June 9, 1997. It was only on September 14, 1998, that the four monks from the annex monastery could move from Sarotari to Lamanabi. By September 29, 1998, they were able to officially begin their regular monastic life. Therefore, September 29 is considered the founding day of the Lamanabi Foundation.

During the General Chapter in November 1999, held in Lourdes, France, Lamanabi was permitted to open a novitiate. In the General Chapter of October 2005, held in Assisi, Italy, the status of Lamanabi Monastery was elevated from a foundation to a simple priory. The ceremony for the establishment of the simple priory took place on December 8, 2005. Fr. Mikael Santana, OCSO, who had led the small group of monks from the beginning, was elected as the first Prior of Lamanabi Monastery.